Archive for the ‘Calculators, Converters, Tools’ Category

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Skyscape’s Medical Bag @ $1.99

Monday, June 29th, 2009

When I first downloaded Skyscape’s Medical Bag for only $1.99, I was telling myself OK this would be very simple for sure. Telling myself that this must be a shrunken version of Skyscape’s titles seducing us to buy the fuller versions, a standard marketing strategy still valid in the tech world. Much like getting a tiny free sample of an expensive perfume.

However, and stunningly, it was not! Play this video for details;

Skyscape’s Medical Bag features a reasonable portions of the original titles namely the Archimedes 360, Labs 360, and Life Support 360.

In fact if you see the video above it shows clearly that the life support content is exactly as the original version and the selected calculators are closer to Archimedes 360 than it is to the free Archimedes. Only the lab section is perhaps significantly trimmed down from the original Labs 360, but in any case still they include what is commonly asked for in clinical practice.

But anyway this is a great deal. The combined prices of the original components is over $80 in Skyscape’s Website and you get them all for only $1.99! Are they serious?

This is not the first time Skyscape is giving away their titles in such a low price. They have done it before in their first iPhone app, the Skyscape Medical Resources. Probably, they realized that selling thousands [may be hundreds of thousands] of low priced apps is more profitable than selling hundreds of high priced apps.

Note that both Skyscape Medical Resources and Skyscape Medical Bag are not offered in the Skyscape website only in iTunes App Store, and there are no Palm or WM or BB versions, only iPhone version. Why? may be they want to take advantage of the alarmingly increasing number of “iPhone” doctors!

Ultimately, this is good for us consumers. We certainly love lower prices.

So here’s my advice; if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, Do not buy Life Support 360, And perhaps Don’t buy Archimedes 360 and Labs 360 either.

Instead go to iTunes App Store and download the Skyscape Medical Bag for only $1.99.

And if you don’t have an iPhone or iPod Touch, get yourself one of them soon.

Of note, Skyscape is using their properiatory titles in these “subsidized” collections because otherwise they would have to pay royalties if they for example include the Harriet Lane or Davis’s Drug Guide.

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, Labs & Tests, News, Pediatric Emergency, iPhone | No Comments »

APGARTimer a Smart APGAR Calculator

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

Patrick Verloo released his first ever iPhone app and it is an APGAR calculator.

Given the fact there are dozens of Apgar calcs for the iPhone by now one would think this app is not going to add anything. However, there’s something in this app that is not seen in any other Apgar score calculator which is a timer.

It’s a smart idea to start the time once the baby is born so that we know when to record the one minute and five minute Apgar scores, this is really handy. Peds and Neo colleagues keep their eye on the wall mounted clock and then pick out their calculator, now with this app they can have them both in one single interface.

But for a single calc app it’s unlikely to stay resident in out iPhone devices as we appreciate more and more the limited real state we have on the iPhone and so ultimately we will keep those multifunctional apps, like for example keeping Mediquations instead of having a number of single calc apps.

$1.99 seems to be high of an Apgar score, it should be free or at least 99 cents.

Download the APGARTimer from iTunes Store.

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, News | 2 Comments »

Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

One of the coolest apps ever came from USBMIS is the Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia. Not only it delivers the latest Tarascon drug index but also it sports some very useful tools and a real multi drug interactions analyzer. However, the app did not qualify as an all-in-one application since it does not include a disease and labs reference.

Have a look here;

An intuitive design with a single page interface where all venues can be accessed. The pharmacological index is the latest with frequent updates as the device is docked and synced. However, we’d wish to see a direct in-device Wifi update which would make the update process much easier.

Pediatricians may find this app very handy as it appropriately includes pediatric dosing and also calculators and tools that are needed at the point of care.

Tarascon is also partnered with NeedyMeds, Consumer Drug Information, and the latest prices are picked from Drugstore.com. The drug interaction analyzer is very easy to use and has got it’s own tab.

Another wonderful feature is the recently added Inter Linking technology in USBMIS apps, which is just like Skyscape’s Smart Linking, makes the purchase of multiple apps synergistically boosting each individual app as we can cross link keywords. In fact, the USBMIS model may feel easier to use as the keyword is highlighted with a yellow color so that we know what to cross check, unlike Skyscape’s Smart Linking.

The things that we missed from Tarascon are:
1- a built-in drug dose calculator and hopefully this is going to be added in future version. and 2- an iPhone version is really needed in the this era of iPhone mania!

For an annual price of $40, this great drug reference ranks high among the list of choices when it comes to the most commonly used PDA task [looking up drug dosage and information].

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, Drug Guides, Drug Interactions | 1 Comment »

NICU Tools on PDA

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

NICUtools.org, a website that sports a collection of highly specialized neonatal calculators and clinical scores has recently produced a Palm version of their calculators.

Because there’s no Windows Mobile version we used Style Tap to import the Palm software into Windows Mobile and here’s how it looked;

Some of the calculators like the congenital diaphragmatic hernia risk assessment and the Nitric Oxide delivery are actually neonatal calculators that are unique and not available on any other PDA calculators.

These calculators are all free online when we go to the website but unfortunately if the site is visited via mobile browser then the pages look awkward and bizarre and therefore we have to buy the PDA version. If you are thinking to visit to the website on your iPhone’s Safari, Don’t even try because they explicitly mention that their web based calcs are not compatible with Safari.

The collection of these calculators and tools is highly specific to the NICU and very handy to the neonatologist. The interface, being a Palm interface, is super fast and no problems encountered in the navigation or the calculation results.

The calculators and tools are based on the best evidence based algorithms drawn from the current literature and a full explanation and references of each calculator is mentioned with each calculator on the NICUTools website.

However, the app can be enormously improved if they consider the following points:

  • More calculators needed, at least an APGAR score and TPN. The missing baby check calculator which is available online but not on the PDA version will not be added in future versions because of copyright issues.
  • Adding Lbs weight units in addition to Kgs could prove beneficial in US practice.
  • A home page button needed, not only exit button!
  • Would love to see the explanations and references mentioned on the PDA version as well.
  • We’d be happy if there’s an iPhone version [we were informed that they working on it].

For more details check out the Pda4peds review of NICUtools and it is included in the neonatology and the calculators categories.

This review was contributed in part by Michael Hewson.

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, Neonatology | 6 Comments »

Drugdoses, a nice collection of useful tools

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

The drug doses booklet written by Frank Shann, which is also known as the little white book is widely known among Australian physicians and pediatricians. This simple drug dosages handbook has been transformed into the PDA by another ICU doctor named Oliver Karam.

It sports a collection of drug doses, some resuscitation drug calculators, a list of normal lab values, and a collection of pediatric calculators named PedCalc.

There are many way that this $20 application can be improved, here’s a list

  • It should run faster. It is only a few KBs app and there should be no delay at all in loading the app. It relies on a runtime environment called Thaker Satellite forms which is not so popular. This runtime is the reason why it cannot be installed on the memory card but that’s not an issue because of its small size.
  • The installation, the registration and the purchase processes should be much more easier.
  • Entries should be cross linked like when we check acetaminophen it tells us check paracetamol but there’s no link to paracetamol and we have use search.
  • The website and software needs some updates. Like you get a message “thank you for downloading Drug Doses 2007″ while you actually downloaded the latest 2008 updates. Also there should be more frequent updates.
  • No built-in drug dose calculator despite the app’s name! and there should be some more info with each drug like at least the side effects.
  • There should be at least double the number of the calculators available in the PedCalc portion of the application. Speaking of PedCalc it is available for free check the website here.

However, for an app developed solely be an ICU physician this a great start. Dr. Karam told us that he’s working on an iPhone version and so let’s wait and see.

This post has be contributed in part by Dr. Paul Fullerton.

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Posted in All, All-in-one Applications, Calculators, Converters, Tools | No Comments »

Drugdoses, a nice collection of useful tools

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

The drug doses booklet written by Frank Shann, which is also known as the little white book is widely known among Australian physicians and pediatricians. This simple drug dosages handbook has been transformed into the PDA by another ICU doctor named Oliver Karam.

It sports a collection of drug doses, some resuscitation drug calculators, a list of normal lab values, and a collection of pediatric calculators named PedCalc.

There are many way that this $20 application can be improved, here’s a list

  • It should run faster. It is only a few KBs app and there should be no delay at all in loading the app. It relies on a runtime environment called Thaker Satellite forms which is not so popular. This runtime is the reason why it cannot be installed on the memory card but that’s not an issue because of its small size.
  • The installation, the registration and the purchase processes should be much more easier.
  • Entries should be cross linked like when we check acetaminophen it tells us check paracetamol but there’s no link to paracetamol and we have use search.
  • The website and software needs some updates. Like you get a message “thank you for downloading Drug Doses 2007″ while you actually downloaded the latest 2008 updates. Also there should be more frequent updates.
  • No built-in drug dose calculator despite the app’s name! and there should be some more info with each drug like at least the side effects.
  • There should be at least double the number of the calculators available in the PedCalc portion of the application. Speaking of PedCalc it is available for free check the website here.

However, for an app developed solely be an ICU physician this a great start. Dr. Karam told us that he’s working on an iPhone version and so let’s wait and see.

This post has be contributed in part by Dr. Paul Fullerton.

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Posted in All, All-in-one Applications, Calculators, Converters, Tools | No Comments »

“Lytes” for your iPhone and iPod Touch

Friday, February 20th, 2009

During our training years, most of us carried paper notes and clippings of those great advices from senior smart colleagues, now no longer if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch!

Here we have another smart app from Free Radical Software, the “Lytes“. The name is not a misnomer it is a shortened form of electrolytes appropriately reflecting the function of the app which is a shortcut toward the management of diselectrolytemias.

Have a look here;

The Lytes can be purchased directly from app store here, for only $3. These three bucks is a great investment that can make our life much easier in clinical practice.

In many iPhone apps that are being released nowadays you either get a great wow factor or you get some less awesomeness but with serious productivity and relevance to clinical practice. Lytes combines the two.

It provides instant access to the causes, signs, treatment, and references of the disorder, once again, in a great slot machine like single interface with smooth flicking.

These disorders inherently make nuisance in practice as they are difficult to remember and to tackle even though they are seen in a day to day practice, this app has made it much easier for us.

Unlike Acid Plus, when we tilt the device into landscape horizontal mode, nothing happens. We suggest to the makers that a tilt here can produce some management flowcharts with yes or no steps to dx and rx the disorder. Another thing they can do is to link the references quoted at the end to live URLs that open up in Safari.

In a nutshell, this is a must-have clinical companion for every practicing physician.

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, Labs & Tests | 4 Comments »

Acid Plus, the new ABG calculator on the iPhone

Monday, February 16th, 2009

This a great new app developed by Free Radical Software for the iPhone which can calculate even the most complex ABG parameters.

The interface is very cool and smart in that it uses the iPhone’s and iPod Touch’s flick scrolling technology making a one page calculator that gives the results in the same page looking like an ABG slot machine!

See how it looks here;

Download this app from iTunes App store for only $3.99 which really worth the price. Also check their other nice app, the Lytes.

The calculator can analyze even complex disorders such as mixed conditions, acute versus chronic, and primary versus secondary compensations.

Not only that, but also input is included for the Sodium and Chloride for calculation of the anion gap which will let us narrow down the diagnosis of metabolic acidosis disorders.

And the coolest feature is that when you tilt the device in landscape mode it will tranform into a Davenport graph with the result dot plotted and pinpointed on it!

Acid Plus Davenport Graph

Some short monographs about the various disorders also included but these should be little more detailed with more information about the basics of acid base disorders to make this app perfect. Some bugs and errors noticed in the first version were appropriately corrected in the latest update.

This is certainly the best ABG calculator that we have seen so far on the iPhone and iPod Touch and if you frequently calculate ABGs then forget about that ABG expert colleague and look no further than this app.

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, Pediatric Emergency, Pediatric Pulmonology | 11 Comments »

Free Archimedes Versus Archimedes 360

Friday, November 28th, 2008

Skyscape Archimedes set of calculators is undoubtedly the most comprehensive clinical calculators tool that we can have on the PDA or Smartphones [If you agree or disagree participate in this poll].

Skyscape publishes Archimedes in two versions Free, and Archimedes 360 for $25 for all platforms and $19 for the iPhone.

The obvious question here is What’s the difference?

Skyscape titles are all equipped with Main Index so that when we type in the search box we can find what we want. In Archimedes the same calculator might be indexed twice or even more in the main index so that for example if we search for Pediatric maintenance fluids or maintenance fluids pediatrics we’ll be then linked to the same calculator. Which is not bad at all.

But the problem here is that what they mention on their website of the free Archimedes having 130+ and Archimedes 360 having 200+ is not precise because these are main index numbers and not actual number of calculators! So the difference is NOT 70+ between the two.

In fact, if you compare the two version side by side you’ll find that the difference is only 46 calculators [for a list of these calculators check this pda4peds page].

As far as we [pediatricians] are concerned with, we will not miss these calculators in the free version because these are not so commonly used formulas except perhaps for immunizations schedules and growth charts.

For the latter two, check out the vaccines and growth categories of pda4peds for a list of free resources.

So the advice still holds true, don’t waste the 25 bucks and be satisfied with the free version.

You can download the Free version here and you can buy the Archimedes 360 here.

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools, Free, Opinions | No Comments »

The Changing Face of Skyscape Archimedes

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

Back in October 2006 Pda4peds reviewed Skyscape Archimedes and there were many concerns that this great set of calculators is missing a lot of pediatric tools.

Today, Archimedes has undergone tremendous updates and additions and the pediatric section is growing larger day by day. “To see the video below please allow WM player plugin to be installed”

Now it includes lovely tools of growth calculations such as the food pyramid and the normal vital signs. The Glasgow Coma Scale is now coming in three versions (<1, 1-5, and >5 years) appropriately addressing the changes in verbal response scores.

Additionally, they have added live links to external resources such as the CDC growth charts and more detailed information is now available for each calculators and how the equation works and both of these features were missing in the old version.

Also, previously we recommended to go for the free Archimedes version as it has no more pediatric calcs than the paid Archimedes 360, BUT this has changed now there are several more calculators in the paid version justifying the 25 bucks.

So thumbs up for Skyscape as they continue working hard in improving the pediatric content of their titles and we withdraw our previous comments…

Two more useful links here;

- Read detailed review of Skyscape Archimedes.

- Vote for Skyscape Archimedes as the best calculator for pediatricians.

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Posted in All, Calculators, Converters, Tools | No Comments »

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